Adding a Custom Domain

One of the nicest ways to polish up your single property website (“Skinned” view) is to add a custom domain forward.  This is an inexpensive way to connect a “vanity” domain to your hard work AND boost the SEO value of your own site/domain.

The process is relatively straightforward:

1. Buy your custom domain name (.com, .info, etc.).  
   Be sure to look for a coupon/discount code when doing so.  Often domain registrars will provide a very discounted first year of registration and, in the case of real estate listings, one year may be all that you need.
2. Once purchased, “Forward” this domain to your custom “skinned” URL
   Every registrar is different, but this process is similar.  You’ll need to use the tools provided by your registrar to connect your recently registered domain to your full “skinned” URL.
3. “Forwarding Only” vs. “Forwarding with Masking”
   At WP3D Models, we recommend that you only use “Forwarding” and stay away from any “Masking”.  The difference here is that one will forward/re-direct a user to your domain (Forwarding Only) while the other will keep the vanity domain in the user’s URL.  While this might be tempting, the process used to create this effect is not mobile friendly and it introduces some SEO concerns.

Here are some resources to look at from some various domain registrars:

GoDaddy Domain Forwarding »
Namecheap Domain Redirection (Forwarding) »
Network Solutions Web Forwarding »
Dotster Domain Pointing Manager »